A Georgia attorney who joined the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and then went on social media to brag about breaking into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has been sentenced.

A Georgia attorney who joined the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and then went on social media to brag about breaking into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has been sentenced.

  • saxysammyp@lemmy.world
    501·
    1 year ago

    You would think an attorney would have the forethought to recognize how posting online might hurt his case in the future. This lends evidence to my hypothesis that being a republican really is a mental illness.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      19·
      1 year ago

      I wonder how badly he ruined his own life. I don’t know a single attorney that worries about feeding their family. 4 years of undergrad, 2 years of law school, and 3 years of eating shit at some law firm. And these are some of the most productive years of life. All pissed away.

      He could have gone to the protest at Mall of America. You have a right to be a dumbass and have dumbass opinions. Could have gone to the peaceful protest and shouted out his dumbass opinions, then gone home. Plenty of dumbasses did. There were plenty that went and made some noise and are not facing jail time. No one wakes up and finds themselves accidentally in a coup.

    • cassetti@kbin.social
      16·
      1 year ago

      This lends evidence to my hypothesis that being a republican really is a mental illness.

      I had to search for his name, and wow what a doozy: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/W-McCall-Calhoun-Jr-georgia-capitol-riot.html

      It’s a long read but here’s a preview:

      Over the past three decades, as the state around him turned ever more resolutely Republican, W. McCall Calhoun Jr. remained an outspoken and unwavering liberal. He gave money to Democrats, ran for office as a Democrat and zealously championed Democratic policies in social circles that were far from sympathetic. If friends admitted they voted for Donald J. Trump, his reaction could be blistering.
      “He was hard core, there’s no doubt about it,” said Dr. Michael Busman, a physician who has known Mr. Calhoun for years. “He wouldn’t even want to talk to you if you were Republican.”
      But last year, as the progressive movement in Georgia was on the cusp of historic electoral triumph, Mr. Calhoun, a small-town lawyer whose family had long roots in the state, suddenly abandoned the Democrats. And not only that, he pledged to kill them.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
        81·
        1 year ago

        He wouldn’t even want to talk to you if you were Republican.”
        But last year, as the progressive movement in Georgia was on the cusp of historic electoral triumph, Mr. Calhoun, a small-town lawyer whose family had long roots in the state, suddenly abandoned the Democrats. And not only that, he pledged to kill them.

        That sort of dramatic 180 feels a lot like some form of mental health issue.

        Assuming the account in the article is accurate.

        • LeadSoldier@lemmy.world
          5·
          1 year ago

          Yeah but somebody who won’t even talk to Republicans maybe the indicator of a long-standing mental health issue. I have been arrested protesting and have been in three wars and I’m very liberal about my constitutional rights. But I still talk to my republican neighbors.

      • cmbabul@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 year ago

        I don’t want to downplay the stupidity of republicans but the assumption that the act of becoming a lawyer makes on intelligent is also just untrue. There are a bunch of stupid lawyers

        • cassetti@kbin.social
          5·
          1 year ago

          Did you read the article I linked to? This guy was NOT a loyal republican. He was a hardcore anti-trump long-time democrat.

          Apparently something “clicked” in his head back in 2019 and he made a HARD right turn which totally shocked everyone who knew him.

          • cmbabul@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            No I agree with you, both in this specific instance and the GOP is brain rot, I just think the instant intelligence we as a society generally assign to people in difficult careers(doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc) is something we should try to correct. Skill and intelligence in one area doesn’t make one intelligent in general. Sorry, more of a tangential point than anything

    • eek2121@lemmy.world
      6·
      1 year ago

      The somewhat popular “theory” is lead poisoning.

      If I had the links handy I would drop them here. Not much (if any) evidence, however.

      Lead poisoning makes people dumb which makes them vote “R” and do dumb stuff.